Soaring food prices and their impact on hunger, malnutrition and development threaten to push 100 million people further into poverty. For more than 2 billion people, high food prices are now a matter of daily struggle (...)

Robert B. Zoellick president of the World Bank Group

Crisis around the globe

6 people died in Haiti and the prime minister was ousted from power.

2 days of rioting ensued in Egypt

24 people died in Cameroon

A night curfew on harvesting machines was imposed in Vietnam to stop raiding of the fields

Any Filipino caught hoarding rice was threatened with life in jail

Malaysia cancelled all public building works and switched instead to stockpiling food

Know more

Climate change

For the UN climate change is "the defining human development challenge of the 21st Century".

And some of the world’s poorest and most malnourished countries are often the first to be hit by droughts, floods and other extreme climate events. This makes climate change a key cross-cutting issue for global food security.

According to the UN’s Human Development Report (2007/08), there are 2.6 billion people — 40% of the world’s population — surviving on less than US$2 a day who are especially vulnerable to the effects of extreme weather, because they have fewer resources with which to manage risks.

Find out more

More Rice with Less Water

WWF is working with farmers, scientists and national institutions in India to promote System of Rice Intensification (SRI) as an option to reduce pressure on freshwater ecosystems and improve food production.

Rice is a staple food for more than half of the world’s population. In Asia alone, more than 2 billion people obtain 60-70% of their calories from rice and its products.

The grain also plays a leading role in the current food crisis, especially in Asia. Not only is it a cheap and valued food source, but it is also deeply entrenched in the culture of many countries. Just this year, the price of rice has already risen as much as 120% in some countries, such as Thailand (FAO).

Know more

Hunger must be reduced without increasing thirst

Globally, agriculture accounts for 70% of all water use, rising to 90% in many developing countries. But only 20-50% of the water withdrawn actually reaches the crops as most of it is lost during transfer to the fields.

WWF's report recommends various methods for managing water more efficiently to tackle the food and water crisis.

Find out more

Food Commodities and Environment

With prices sky rocketing, investing in food commodities has become attractive. This causes an increase in demand and therefore price, thus making food commodities one of the key elements in the recent crisis.

Learn more about some of the main food commodities, their environmental impact and how they can be better managed: bananas, beef, cashews, cassava, coffee, palm oil, soybeans, sugarcane, tea, tobacco, wheat and much more.

Find out more

Biofuel

Biofuel has been one of the central topics in the debate regarding the food crisis.

Biomass use for energy can make a major contribution to climate protection and resource conservation. However, bioenergy production can also have negative environmental impacts and it has been suggested that focus on biofuels is taking away valuable land for food crops. Therefore, production must comply with the best possible sustainable methods.